Sloppy Start

The Eagles are a more talented team than the Skins. That didn’t mean much in the first half on Sunday when Washington was up 17-0. Talent alone isn’t enough. Teams must execute well to win games in the NFL.

The Eagles were brutally sloppy on Sunday, especially early on.

• Andrew Sendejo slipped in coverage and then half the defense missed the tackle of Vernon Davis. That resulted in a TD.
• DeSean Jackson got into a shoving match with a DB. The DB had been hitting receivers after plays to get at them. Unfortunately, it was Jackson who got the flag. That put the Eagles in 3rd and 17 and killed the drive.
• Rasul Douglas got burned for a 69-yard TD. He didn’t have safety help. For some reason, Douglas was slow initially and let the WR run right by him.
• Carson Wentz had a fourth down pass batted down. That killed a drive that was in scoring territory.
• Ronald Darby dropped an easy INT. He had a chance for another one, but that would have been a tougher catch.
• J.J. Arcega-Whiteside had a holding call that nullified a TD run by Miles Sanders.
• Derek Barnett had multiple offsides penalties.
• Darren Sproles caught a pass late in the game and ran out of bounds at the 3:18 mark. Had he stayed in, another 35 or so seconds would have gone off the clock. WAS scored their TD at the :12 mark. If Sproles stays in, there is no final TD. Dumb play by a smart veteran.
• WR Terry McLaurin, who had already burned Douglas for a long TD, ran right by Sidney Jones. Thankfully the pass was overthrown.
• DeSean Jackson dropped a short pass.

Some of this rust is due to this being the season opener. The first game of the year is rarely a model of perfect execution.

The lack of preseason reps for key players is bound to have had some effect. Jim Schwartz mentioned in his press conference that the lack of pass rush on the final drive was due to DL not having fresh legs. The guys weren’t used to being on the field that much and it caught up to them on a hot summer afternoon.

The Eagles better not repeat this performance against a talented team like the Falcons. You aren’t going to win in Atlanta making that many mistakes.

*****

#Eagles DT Malik Jackson is expected to miss the season with a Lisfranc injury suffered Sunday vs. the #Redskins, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Jackson will have surgery next week. Tough one for Philly despite their DL depth.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 10, 2019

We expected bad news and we got it. You hate to lose an impact DL like Jackson.

To replace him…

Eagles sign DT Akeem Spence to take Malik Jackson's roster spot. Spence, 27, is a 2013 4th-rd pick out of Illinois. Played first four NFL seasons for TB, in '17 with DET and '18 with MIA. Has 57 career starts, 10.5 career sacks.

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 10, 2019

Spence was productive for Miami last year. He had 2 sacks, 6 TFLs and 9 QB hits while starting all 16 games.

The Eagles have had good luck with finding 1-gap DTs. Justin Hamilton, Treyvon Hester, Hassan Ridgeway, etc. Spence is 6-1, 303 and is at his best attacking up the field.

Akeem Spence blowing up the play! #Lions pic.twitter.com/eiEJwkxUYV

— Detroit Sports Network (@detsportsdotnet) November 23, 2017

*****

#Eagles have waived TE Alex Ellis and placed DT Malik Jackson on Injured Reserve.

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 10, 2019

Ellis will almost certainly go to the practice squad.

I’m guessing the Eagles replace him with a veteran TE, but after the troubling coverage on Sunday the team could always consider adding a DB.

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